Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

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Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be its undying characteristic. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

Today is your 25th birthday. Sadly, for us it is also the 9th one, without you. I really don’t know where you are. But the spirit of time does tell me you are somewhere here and somewhere there for our care. In our deep loneliness I find your memories still coming to our rescue. The world has changed for us—almost an upside down. Where, the objectives have become hazy but the din of life has only increased. There was a lesson I had derived out of your untimely demise. To, work for poor children suffering from cancer. What you suffered. I now pursue the cause. Ma Prachi and Kartik, all help me in that. It gives us great satisfaction. Down the years I also realized. There are two different worlds for the parents. One, is of those, who have seen their children departing in front of them. The other is of those, that have seen their children flourishing in front of them. The former is very—very painful to accept. I have written two books about cancer patients. Just to, convey to the world. What it takes to fight the dreaded disease and the mental and physical suffering of the patients and their near and dear ones. The books have been well received by the readers.

My temporal connect with the world has lessened but not my grit. It is said to every birth there is a death for sure. Yet I realized. It is not that easy to accept the departure of your child in front of you. It took a long time for me and Ma to accept life without you. Even today we are not hundred percent of what we used to be. Both of us keep working like mad. We don’t want to sit at home else we’ll go crazy with your fond memories.

There is one person who calls me each year on the day you expired. He is a Sardar. A granthi in a Gurudwara in Faridabad. Just a week before you left us and when you were in the hospital, his twenty year old son had expired in front of us in the same hospital. And he knows you expired a week later. So there is divine connect between me and him. The few consoling words that he says are enough to recharge me.

What else to say. You came and you left. May God bless you and bless us too.

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases. Should you wish to donate for the cause the bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(Archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. Book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

Story of an Indian salesman who is lowly qualified but fights his ways through uncertainities to reach the top. A good read for all salesmen. Now available in Amazon.com

It gives me great satisfaction to share the fact that my book ‘GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE’ has got entry into many prestigious libraries of the US including HCL technical services, Harvard College Library; Library of Congress, Washington DC and can also be accessed in the library of MIT, Massachusetts through worldcat.org. It is also available for reading in the University of Washington libraries—Seattle WA 98195 United States; University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN-55455 US; Library of University of Chicago; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 United States and Yale University Library, New Haven, CT 06520 US.

I began writing this book immediately after the untimely and tragic death of my son Shravan, as everything was fresh in my mind then. He had staged a long and valiant fight against Brain Cancer. But then he sadly succumbed to it leaving us all high and dry. He developed cancer, when he was just two-and-a-half. I was then thirty eight. The battle continued for 14 years and during that period he underwent as many as eight surgeries and a whole gamut of treatment that comprised of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and what not. My biggest challenge then was to keep a very fine balance between my career and my emotions. And of course keep myself solvent enough to meet the high cost of treatment. Further, as luck would have it, my wife in the process had to give up her career, as she was 24×7 required to look after the boy. Those days, I used to get a feel as if my entire life was in a deep muddle. Where, emotions had no place as that would have pulled me down on my performance. On the other hand outstanding performance would have earned me more incentives and salary and that in turn would have helped us in his treatment. So the whole thing was like a lethal chakravyuh that could have given anyone jitters.

In this tough stranglehold of time, me and my wife spent some fourteen precious years of our lives. In that duration I grew from thirty eight to fifty two, when he finally expired. Those were the toughest years of my life. The idea of scribbling down this page, is to go down the memory lane and express my deep gratitude once again to each of those Good Samaritans who came into our lives around that period time to take us through that very difficult decade and a half, even when their names are mentioned in the acknowledgment page of the book I would like to thank them once again. Because in such adversities it is indeed the collective bench strength of all your well wishers that pulls you through the upstream.

The book was intended to describe the grueling fight, our family had to undertake, in the India of those times to fight the dreaded disorder. And it also intended to convey, what it took, to see through 14 years of intense cancer, by an infant patient, who saw it through and through till he succumbed when he was sweet sixteen. It also detailed the issue of how noble companies fought for such causes for their devoted employees, especially, when Shravan’s medical insurance was not there, since he was just two and a half when he was diagnosed of cancer, clearly our fault. I’m sure the book has achieve the purpose for which it was written and most certainly it must have passed through many enlightened minds across the globe. Who, in turn will put their might together into this long standing challenge of cancer, for the world to benefit.

Here, I would also like to profusely thank all those, who helped me in bringing, this book to light. Where, I can’t forget my elder brother Ajit and his wife Aolla, my son Kartik, my colleague Bipin Bihari, Mr Vijay Sharma and my publisher Kaushal Goyal and of course my wife Sujata. For those of who haven’t read it. The book is not at all scary. On the contrary it will pep you up and make you realise there is always a way out in every situation.

The first publication was done by Shravan Charity Mission followed by Pigeon Books. For print copies kindly contact Pigeon books website and for e-book antrik.com. (In antrik.com after entering home page go to categories than biography/autobiography where you’ll find the book.

The details of its cataloging in various libraries is given below:

(http://hollisclassic.harvard.edu/) (this is the harvard link. Kindly write ‘gloom behind the smile’ in the search column that will take you to web page where the name of the book and other details are mentioned.

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases. Should you wish to donate for the cause the bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(Archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. Book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

Story of an Indian salesman who is lowly qualified but fights his ways through uncertainities to reach the top. A good read for all salesmen. Now available in Amazon.com

Some things are hard to write about. Some causes are hard to pursue. Some realities are hard to accept. But that’s life.

Yesterday, we were in Apollo Hospital, Delhi, to offer financial help to a couple of children combating cancer quite stoically and that too with a brave smile. As a cancer activist let me confess, I often draw courage from such brave young children who fight cancer to the hilt. And I rate them as the ultimate in the rungs of courage.

Tanmoy Anand

Tanmoy Anand was the first child we met there. A male toddler, barely, a year and nine months, and suffering from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), hailing from Bihar. And it made me feel as if God is really cruel. Tanmoy appeared a bundle of innocence, joy, pain and hope. We wish him fast recovery.

Wamik Habib

The second child that we came across was Wamik Habib from Baramulla, Kashmir. He is a ten year old son, of one Mr Habibullah, a shopkeeper. Wamik was full of energy and no one could imagine he is suffering from Burkitt’s Lymphoma as he was busy speaking to his folks back in Kashmir while camping in the hospital with his father. We wish him a speedy recovery too.

Life strikes a different chord when you meet someone who is on the wrong side of health and as a result of which the philosophy of life changes at once. Each time I cross a hospital I feel God has left a very thin line between the patients inside and me, and I must be grateful to God for that.

Shravan Charity Mission was started in the memory our late son ‘Shravan.’ He was diagnosed of ‘Brain cancer’ when he was only two-an-a-half years old. And after a long and well fought battle he succumbed tragically when he was sweet sixteen in the year 2009. It was a very arduous journey for us and since then we decided to help ‘Poor Children Suffering from Cancer,’ and the NGO was registered for this purpose.

Background: I have served in big corporate companies for over 36 years across India and at senior positions. But, I now pursue the cause of cancer. I am also a writer, author and a freelance journalist. I also run my own blog as detailed below. Through this blog we cover activities of our NGO where we make direct financial interventions for treatment of poor children; and we also write domain articles and also article of general interest. Currently we are working with Apollo Hospitals in their poor children’s ward, with Dr Amita Mahajan, Pediatric oncologist.

My wife is an educationist and works as a Principal in a B-Ed college and my elder son and daughter-in-law are both with corporate companies.

MY PUBLICATIONS (Earnings go for the cause of poor children suffering from cancer)

http://goo.gl/eWuIS0 ‘#Book #review ‘Gloom behind the Smile’- A real life #story of a #child #cancer #patient (story of Shravan that you could purchase from us or an ebook from online stores – read the url) Book is archived in libraries of the US including the biggest library of world- Library of Congress, Washinton DC.

http://goo.gl/a1sUPH ‘#Aadab #Lucknow … fond memories’ is a book on Lucknow’s #culture (in novel format) of #Hindu-#Muslim #brotherhood. E-book is available in amazon.com and flipkart and some other stores. Print copies available with us. Book was launched in Lucknow Literary festival last year.

http://goo.gl/O3FgDY ‘One to tango … Ria’s odyssey.’ Is a #Story on #SINGLEHOOD about a #Delhi girl. The book is now archived in prestigious Connemara library of Chennai. In case you require a copy you can find in any online store or write to us.

Short stories for sale (Earnings go for cancer patients)

http://goo.gl/yCyImD ‘WHO SHOT THE #WILD #BOAR?’ Is a #short #story on #wild-life written to aid poor children suffering from #cancer. Price Rs 100 for a PDF copy

http://goo.gl/88UVzd ‘ ALLURING MIRAGE OF Raj estate-Ludhiana’ – a short family story written for the cause poor children suffering from #cancer. Price Rs 100 for a PDF copy.

FOR DONATIONS OR PURCHASES KINDLY MAKE A NET TRANSFER AS PER INDIVIDUAL URL OR DROP A CHEQUE IN ANY OF THE ACCOUNTS AND SEND US AN E-MAIL ON shravancharitymission@gmail.com AND WE WILL DESPATCH THE BOOK/SHORT STORY TO YOU